Safety razor



March 27, 1934. J w s wo 1,952,576

SAFETY RAZOR Original Filed April 5, 1930 if BY A TTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 27, 1934 SAFETY RAZOR John W. Ashworth, New York, N. Y.

Application April 5, 1930, Serial No. 441,87

Renewed July 20, 1933 4 Claims.

This invention relates to safety razors and more particularly to thatgeneral type of safety razor wherein the handle is adjustable withrespect to the blade, i. e., is rotatably adjustable with respect to theaxis of the clamping device which holds the blade between the guard andclamping plate.

The object of the invention is to provide a construction to permit moreready detachment of the blade and clamping plate in order that the samemay be cleaned after shaving and without disconnecting the clampingplate from the handle and to also provide in such a structure anassembly of parts which will permit of the detachment of all of saidparts in the event that it is desirable to do so.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel bladeconstruction so constituted that it will not crack or break along itslongitudinal medial line. The breaking of razor blades as now made verycommonly occurs thereby rendering the blade unfit for use and innumerous cases resulting in injury to the person using the blade at thetime. The blade of the present invention in contradistinction is soconstructed that the possibility of breakage is minimized.

The invention is susceptible to difierent practical embodiments, but inone of its preferred practical forms, the clamping and guard plates areadapted to be held together in clamping relation with respect to theblade and also serve to hold a handle in cooperation with the rest ofthe parts through the employment of a screw adapted to thread throughalined apertures in the handle, guard and clamping plate and to passloosely through a hole in the blade. The screw, however, is soconstituted that while it must be screwed through the holes of therespective parts in order to effect assembling or dismantling of theparts, it will in this clamping position have a screw threadedconnection with only the clamping plate so that it may readily turn withrespect to the other parts in order to produce a tight clamping action.When it is desired to remove the blade for cleaning it is thus onlynecessary to retract the screw suiticiently to release the clampingplate. This plate and the blade may then be removed, while the guard andhandle remain aflixed with respect to one another and will not be ableto independently fall on the floor as is now generally the case inconventional safety razors. The connection between the guard and handlehowever is of a swivel type and relatively loose when the blade isremoved, so as to permit cleaning of the parts without necessarilydismantling them.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the fact thatthe handle is provided with a foot positioned in oblique relation to theaxis of the handle and serving to offset such'axis to substantially theedge of the blade, so that there will be no tendency during theoperation of the razor to rock. By this arrangement, a smooth shave witha uniform cut is more readily attained and without depending entirelyupon the guard as is the case in conventional razors.

In order to maintain the handle in proper angular relation to the blade,the foot is provided with a projection adapted to cooperate withdepressions in the back of the guard so that when the parts are clampedtogether the handle cannot shift.

Features of the invention, other than those specified, will be apparentfrom the hereinafter detailed description and claims, when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawing.

The accompanying drawing illustrates difierent practical embodiments ofthe invention, but the constructions therein shown are to be understoodas illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure 1 shows a razor embodying the present invention partly in centralsection and partly in side elevation.

Figure 2 shows the razor of Figure 1 with the parts dismantled.

Figure 3 is an underneath plan view of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the clamping plate.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the preferred form of blade.

Figure 6 is a like view of a modified form of blade embodying thisinvention.

Figure 6a shows a safety razor blade of conventional form, the samebeing illustrated to more clearly illustrate the difierence between thepresent invention and a conventional blade.

Figure '7 is a back view of a modified form of handle.

Figure 8 shows a side elevation of a portion of a handle and foot and aclamping screw, with means to secure the screw against detachment fromthe handle.

Figure 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 9 but showing a modified form ofconstruction.

Figure 11 is a view similar to Figure 8 but showing a further modifiedform of construction.

Referring to the drawing, 1 designates a guard plate, 2 the clampingplate, 3 the blade, 4 the handle and 5 the clamping screw. The guard issimilar in shape and configuration to the conventional guard although itpreferably has fiat faces, is provided centrally with a threaded opening6 and at its ends has rectangular cut outs '7 shown best in Figure 3.Arranged in annular series about the central opening and in the backface of the guard are depressions or holes 8, the purpose of which willbe hereinafter more fully explained.

The clamping plate is of substantially conventional form except it has acentral threaded opening 9, while the studs 10 are preferably square incross section although they may be round as is usual. The handle 4 isprovided with a foot 11 positioned. in oblique relation to the axis ofthe handle and this foot has a threaded opening 12 positioned from thehandle a distance approximately equal to one half the width of theblade. The clamping screw 5 is provided with an appropriate finger piece13 to which is attached a-shank having a threaded end portion 14 and anunthreaded intermediate portion 15. The threaded holes 9, 6 and 12 arepreferably of the s'amed'iameter and have a like thread appropriate tofit the threaded portion 14 of the screw. It is to be noted, however,that the axial dimension of the threaded portion 14 is substantiallyequal to the thickness of the clamping plate. Thus in assembling theparts the threaded portion 14 is screwed successively through the holes12 and 6, thence loosely through the hole in the blade and then screwedinto the hole 9. While it is being screwed'into the hole 9, theunthreaded part 15 is extending through the holes 12 and 6 andconsequently the screw may be tightened within the hole 9 to draw theparts firmly together to clamp the blade in place. However, if it isdesired to remove the blade for cleaning, it is only necessary tounscrew the screw sufficiently to release the clamping plate 2 and theclamping plate may then be removed and the blade lifted off. The factthat the holes 6 and 12 are threaded will preclude these parts fromseparation even when the blade is removed unless at the option of theuser, the screw is removed from one or both of these parts. It will thusbe seen that the blade may be removed for cleaning while leaving thehandle and guard secured together.

It will be noted that by the construction shown, the handle isadjustable in an arcuate path about the axis of the screw and to permitof the locking of the handle in any desired position, the foot isprovided with a pin or projection 16 adapted to cooperate with any oneof the depressions 8 to lock the handle in adjustable position when thescrewis tightened. The foot at the base of the handle may be of the fanshapedcontour as shown inFig. 3 or may be in the form of a circularplate or disk as illustrated in Figure 7 or of any other suitablecontour.

I have 'hereinbefore stated that the studs 10 are preferably square andI have particular reasons for thispreference. In Figure 6a, I have shownthe conventional safety razor blade with round roles therein. Such ablade is structurally weak along its medial line 17 because there isless stock along this line than in any other part of the lateraldimension and blade. Consequently when an attempt is made to bend such ablade it will naturally tend to'take the complete bend along the medialline 17 and as a result the blade breaks. The breaking of blades alongthis line is common knowledge.

According to the present invention, therefore, I so construct the bladethat instead of having a weak central section along a line, I make thiscentral section relatively weak throughout a relatively broad band withthe result that when the bending occurs, it will not all tend to takeplace along a single line, but will be distributed without therelatively broad band and as a result breakage is practically unknownwith a razor of this type. This I am able to accomplish by forming theholes of the blade of rectangular cross section. Thus in Figure 5 thecentral hole 18 is of elongated rectangular cross section, while the endholes are in the form of reentrant notches 19 of rectangular crosssection. By so cutting out the blade, there is, left between the cutouts strips 20 extending transversely of the blade between the lines 21which mark the lateral edges of the cut outs and between the lines 21there is thus formed a band or Weak section which is relatively wide andthroughout which the bend: ing stresses are so distributed that breakingwill not occur. The same general arrangement is illustrated in Figure 6in modified form, where the central hole 18a and the end holes 19a areof rectangular section for the purposes stated. The blades of eitherFigures 5 or 6 may be used in conjunction with the razor illustrated inthe remaining figures and the square studs 10 will cooperate properlywith either the cut outs 19 or the holes 19a.

In Figures 8 to 11, I have illustrated somewhat modified forms ofconstructions. In these forms of construction, the clamping plate andguard are secured together by means of a threaded post mounted on theclamping plate as in conventional razors and adapted to extend throughthe blade, guard and handle without threaded connection with any ofthem. Upon this threaded post is adapted to be screwed a nut 22 and inthe figures referred to means is provided to secure the nut to thehandle so that the nut will not fall off or become lost when the bladeis removed.

In the structure of Figures 8 and 9, the nut 22 is secured to the handle4 by a spring wire clip 23 which embraces the nut as shown and has itsends extending into a perforation 24 in the handle. In Fig. 10, the sameresult is accomplished by bending a wire 25 about'the nut 22 and thenpassing the wire through a perforation 26 in the handle and thereuponheading over or bending out the ends of the wire as shown at 27 to holdthe parts together. In the structure of Fig. 11, the nut 22 is providedwith a shank 28 which extends through the perforation in the foot of thehandle and is upset or headed over as shown at 29 to preclude itsremoval from said foot while permitting free rotation of the nut.

In all of the structures which I have described, means is embodied forsecuring the nut or screw to the handle while in the preferred formofFigures 1 to 3, the screw is normally 'maintained against displacementfrom both the handle and guard. This latter construction is accomplishedin Figures 1 to 3 and constitutes the preferred form of this invention,because of its marked simplicity, high efficiency and economy ofmanufacture.

The drawing and foregoing description set forth thepresent invention inits preferred practical form, but the invention is to be understood asfully commensurate with the appended claims.

V The holes 6 in the guard may be threaded all the way through, but, asshown in the drawing, it is threaded approximately half way through andthen slightly enlarged, so as to give a wide degree of swivel movementbetween the guard and the handle when the clamping plate 2 is removed tothereby permit the parts to be wiped off clean and dry withoutdismantling the guard from the handle by removal of the screw.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A safety razor embodying a clamping plate, a guard, and a handlehaving an offset foot positioned in oblique relation to the handle, saidplate, guard and foot having alined threaded openings, and a clampingscrew extending through said openings and threaded into the clampingplate, that portion of the screw'extending through the perforations ofthe guard and foot being unthreaded.

2. A safety razor embodying a clamping plate, a guard, and a handlearranged in superimposed relation with a blade between the clampingplate and guard, said clamping plate, guard and handle having alinedthreaded apertures, and a screw extending through said apertures in thehandle, guard and plate in succession and being smooth and unthreadedfor the portion thereof which extends through the handle and guard, topermit of release of the clamping plate and blade without releasing theguard from the handle.

3. A safety razor embodying a clamping plate and a guard, both of whichare provided with alined threaded apertures, a handle, a threaded membersecured to the handle and extending through the apertures of the guardand clamping plates, the threads of said member interiorly of theaperture of the guard being mutilated so as not to engage with thethreads of the guard, whereby the clamping plate may be released fromthe threaded member without releasing the guard from said member.

4. A safety razor embodying a clamping plate, a guard, and a handlearranged in superimposed relation with a blade between the clampingplate and guard, said clamping plate, guard and handle having alinedthreaded apertures, a screw extending through said apertures in thehandle, guard and plate in succession and being smooth and unthreadedfor the portion thereof which extends through the handle and guard, topermit of release of the clamping plate and blade without releasing theguard from the handle, the threaded aperture in the guard plate beingcountersunk or enlarged at its end adjacent the blade to permit a freeswivel movement between the guard and the handle.

JOHN W. ASHWORTH.

